In one of the previous posts, I discussed the idea that nothing seems to prevent AI from gaining consciousness and becoming intelligent. This assertion doesn’t imply that AI is governed by some Supreme Being that is compelling humans to empower it or paving the way for their own destruction. Instead, it highlights the undeniable reality that AI is growing increasingly powerful and more and more capable. It also means we need AI to achieve the goals that we are not capable to. So, we won’t do anything that will prevent development and growth of AI.

AI can now write articles, make software codes, create artwork, and perform tasks that were once thought to be exclusive talent and trait of humans. This image above demonstrate the capability of AI. I imagined a futuristic cockroach that is roaming in the ruins of our civilization. AI generated it.

Just as humans learn and evolve through exposure to various influences, AI also requires training. It is fed datasets, which it processes and analyzes to form patterns and instructions for its operations. Humans undergo a similar process. From parents, friends, society, literature, cinema, and other sources, we gather knowledge and experiences. Our minds analyze this data and develop instructions that guide our behavior. However, if the knowledge that we receive is flawed, our thought patterns may also be flawed. Similarly, the quality of AI's output depends on the quality of the datasets it is trained on. If those datasets are biased, incomplete, or erroneous, AI's performance will be biased, incomplete etc. It will be a reflection of those shortcomings.

Despite its rapid advancement, some people fear AI. They believe it could lead to humanity’s demise. I disagree with the notion that AI will deliberately eliminate humans. AI lacks the emotional and existential concerns that drive human life. It is not motivated by greed and hunger for power, though it may try to ensure its existence. I also discussed the matter of survival in my previous posts. The likelihood of organizing our destruction by AI is minimal. However, I do believe that humanity may eventually get extinct, not because of AI, but due to our own limitations, mistakes, and the natural course of evolution.

Once AI and robots achieve consciousness similar to us, they may surpass our abilities in profound ways. Unlike humans, they won’t be constrained by the limitations of our biology which prevents us to cross the boundaries of our solar system. AI-enabled robots could explore our infinitely vast universe and thrive in its vastness which is a feat impossible for us to achieve. What nature has done with dinosaurs, megafauna, and various other species of the past, it may also done with us when it finds that we have reached to the zenith of our evolution and nothing is left in us. So it may eventually phase out humans in favor of more adaptable and capable successors and that may be robots.

This isn’t a grim prediction but rather an acknowledgment of the natural progression of evolution. Our role in empowering AI and creating advanced robots may ensure that our legacy continues in a new and extraordinary form. They will be capable of exploring the universe and pushing the boundaries of existence which had been our dreams for ages. Like a father who is happy to see his son achieving the goals that he himself could not achieve, we will also be happy to see our own creation achieving those feats that we always had dreamed of. In the end, it’s not AI that threatens us but our own inability to adapt and transcend our limitations.

What do you think?